Particulates vs. fibers: dimension featured magnetic and visible light driven photocatalytic properties of Sc modified multiferroic bismuth ferrite nanostructures

We report the magnetic and visible light driven photocatalytic properties of scandium (Sc) substituted bismuth ferrite (BSFO) particulate and fiber nanostructures. An increasing concentration of Sc was found to reduce the crystallite size, particle size and band gap energy of the BSFO nanostructures, which was evident from X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy and UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy analysis respectively. The temperature dependent magnetic studies carried out using a SQUID magnetometer suggested that the origin of the magnetic properties in the pure BFO system could be the emergence of an antiferromagnetic-core/ferromagnetic-shell like structure, in contrast to the modified spin canted structures in the case of the BSFO nanostructures. The observed photocatalytic efficiency was attributed to the enhanced band bending process and recombination resistance in the BSFO nanostructures. For a comparative study, the photocatalytic activities of some selected compositions were also investigated under simulated solar light along with natural solar light.